Japanese Releases News, Japanese Releases Features - Page 7 of 17

Dogfight motion demo a go-go

Though the DSi has no native motion-sensing capabilities, it hasn't stopped developers from trying to use the system's built-in cameras to approximate the tilt-sensors of the iPhone. As expected however, cameras are not motion sensors and although the latest effort from Genki Mobile includes a fair collection of mini-games involving flying and shooting targets, it all..

Ivy the Kiwi makes a multi-platform assault, a new free app for DSi and more all-new games next week in Japan

After last week's slim pickings this week actually provides some choice on both Wii and DSi on the download front, including the first free app from Nintendo on the DSi since the Wii no Ma media viewer was released last May. Better still all of these are brand-new releases, without a..

Burt Reynolds not included

Whilst a game based on Deliverance probably would be very cool, Exciting River is about kayaking to a goal in the quickest time possible, rather than surviving a weekend river-rafting amongst crazed banjo-duelling hillbillies out for blood. Still, exciting it is thanks to good controls and fast-paced gameplay. There are a number of courses to play through in two..

Fancy a game of 4-on-4 Cyberball?

Although "proper" sports video games have been more successful at home and in the arcades, there's something to be said for the made up ones that have less focus on player stats and more on just playing the game. Suzak's Throw Out, a more recent entry in the G.G. Series of budget arcade-style games, is definitely one of the latter: a game that marries..

Drift on outta here

Nothing is perfect, not even the G.G. Series. We figured there had to be at least one dud in this assortment of budget-priced slices of arcade fun and this is definitely it. From the screenshots you'd think you're going to be playing a fun overhead racer like Moto Roader or Super Sprint – a notion reinforced by the fact that there's nine tracks included – but you'd be sadly..

Side-scrolling bullet hell magic

One good thing about the Japanese DSi Shop for retro-gaming fans is the availability of old-school sprite-based shooters, with several decent ones to choose from. The G.G. Series already has a few among its number, but they're all different enough that it cannot hurt to add another one: enter Dark Spirts, of the bullet-hell variety. Players control a figure in a..

Mappy Ninja Gaiden

Ninja have been a fixture of video games for a long time, so it's only fitting that Suzak have created a game for the G.G. Series featuring one that bears more than a passing resemblance to Ryu from Ninja Gaiden. Though his inspiration may run around beating up street toughs, the hero of Shinobi Karakuri-Den bounces around like a certain badge-wearing mouse from Namco. It's a bit..

For fans of mind-bending only

Most of the G.G. Series previewed to-date have been pretty accessible puzzlers or arcade style games from various genres, but here's the first one that's probably only going to be a hit with a small audience due to the nature and level of the challenge on offer. The gameplay is essentially similar to Toki Tori and freeware Flash games: you control a small stick man who..

Arcade gymnastics

You have to give credit to developer Suzak for the work it's done with the G.G. Series. Whilst most of the games are interesting takes on traditional genres, it also likes to throw out the occasional brand-new concept, like Tetsubou: a game which could be best termed a "gymnastic puzzler." Players are presented with a multi-screen playfield consisting of a start point..

A refreshingly novel take on the "match three" puzzler

There have been many variations on the "match three" puzzle game, often involving adding another item to complete a matching set, but it's rare to see a truly new and novel mechanic used in what has become something of a cliched puzzle game style. For this reason G.G. Series Conveyor Kombō is something of a surprise, because it not..

Challenging mahjong battles at a budget price

Mahjong games have existed on Japanese consoles almost since the first machines were rolled out, and over time certain standards have emerged, to such an extent that having experience with one mahjong game will lead you to expect certain conventions in another. Part of the attraction of Tasuke's 200V...

Scribbling and monster fish for Wii, with a bit of zookeeping for the DSi next week in Japan

Japan's release schedule this year has calmed quite a bit from the dozen-plus release weeks seen last year, but even so next week is more akin to some of the droughts seen in Europe and North America in the past with only three downloads across both Wii and DSi next week; two of which are catch-up titles..

Carrying the standard for a forgotten genre

Back in the early 80s the "maze" game was a popular genre both in arcades and on home consoles, featuring a fixed screen and expected mechanics of navigating a character around hazards whilst collecting objects. Once platforming and adventure games took off, the maze game all but vanished; even the king of mazes, Pac-Man himself, has long since..

Plant barbering, plane piloting, kanji, colouring and adventuring next week in Japan

Next week is pretty much a catch-up week for Japanese Wii and DSi owners, with only a couple of brand-new titles for DSi, neither one of which is a game. WiiWareBonsai Barber (800pts - Nintendo) – It's hard to believe this plant-barbering simulator hasn't already been available in Japan considering it was..

Pretty girls and shooting action: a recipe for success

If you weren't already jealous of the number of old-fashioned shooting games available in the Japanese DSi Shop thanks to the G.G. Series, now you have another one courtesy of I.T.L. Roughly translated as Shooting Space Girls, this is a side-scroller with a difference, though what that difference is won't be immediately apparent. You have an..

Great games all around.

It is once again the final Friday of the month, and that means Nintendo has revealed their plans for Japan's Virtual Console this coming month. It looked like there were no more games remaining for the final update this month (Next week), but Konami has generously provided two more MSX games just for it. Next month sees two Neo Geo and Super Famicom games, in addition to one..

Not a mad dentist, just more arcade fun!

It's not hard to see why we keep on downloading G.G. Series games to preview because as many as there are, they all seem to have been made by people who care about delivering a quality slice of simple gaming fun. That they're only 200 Points each is just icing on the electron cake of arcade goodness. Drilling Attack features a robot (or person in chunky..

Tank-tastic arcade fun!

Tanks feature in some of the earliest arcade games, from vector graphics classics like Battle Zone and Armor Attack to "newer" sprite-based games like Vindicators and Tank Force. As with the latter D-Tank sees players controlling a tank and trying to defend a base from attack by incoming waves of enemy tanks: a fairly simple premise, but as with other G.G. Series..

Arcade action the G.G. Series way

The G.G. Series of games in the Japanese DSi Shop really are a little slice of arcade heaven. Not just because they offer some good old-fashioned fun, but because they're such well-crafted titles generally. Assault Buster is certainly one to put into the "pretty good" column, offering an interesting combination of run-and-gun and shooting action. Players..